Optical disk device and method for detecting and replacing a defective sector within a block containing recording data and error correction data on an optical disk

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and method for detecting and replacing a defective sector on an optical disk. Recording data and error correction data are recorded on an optical disk at a manufacturing time or an initial time. The recorded data and the error correction data are reproduced in units of one sector. A defective sector is determined when address data in an address field cannot be reproduced or when a number of errors in at least one sector exceeds a specified value. Address data of the defective sector is recorded in a defect list on the optical disk. Recording data and error correction data are successively recorded on the optical disk in a plurality of successive block areas. Defective sectors are skipped and recording data and error correction data are recorded in a unit of one block beginning in a next sector area. When a defective sector is detected after recording the recording data and the error correction data at a time other that the initial time or the manufacturing time, the recording data and the error correction data are recorded in a block area being different than a block area containing the defective sector.

This is a division of application Ser. No. 08/822,738,filed Mar. 24,1997,now U.S. Pat. No. 5,859,823.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a recording and reproducing device forrecording data on an optical disk and reproducing data recorded on theoptical disk, a recording device exclusively used for recording data onan optical disk, a reproducing device exclusively used for reproducingdata recorded on the optical disk, and a replacement processing methodfor effecting replacement process for a defect area or defect areas inthe optical disk device.

Conventionally, an optical disk device for recording data on an opticaldisk having recording tracks or reproducing data recorded on the opticaldisk uses laser light emitted from a semiconductor laser oscillatormounted on an optical head.

With the above optical disk device, data is recorded on the optical diskin units of one ECC block, each block being constructed by a pluralityof sectors.

In this case, an optical disk device is proposed in which whether or notdata is correctly recorded in units of one sector is determined at themanufacturing time or at the initial time such as the applicationstarting time, and if a sector with a defect is detected by the abovedetermination process, the ECC block containing the defective sector isclassified as a defective block and is treated as an unusable block.

Therefore, when successive data items such as speeches or movingpictures are recorded and if an ECC block (defective block) which isunusable is present, a slip replacement process for recording data on anext ECC block after skipping over the defective ECC block is effected.That is, the data recording operation is interrupted for a period oftime corresponding to one ECC block.

Thus, the conventional optical disk device has a defect that thereproducing operation is interrupted for a period of time correspondingto one ECC block, for example, when successive data items such asspeeches or moving pictures are reproduced.

Further, the conventional device includes a process for determiningwhether or not data has been correctly recorded for each sector at therecording time after the initial time, dealing with a defective sectoras an unusable sector if the defective sector is detected by the abovedetermining process and recording data by use of a sector prepared in adifferent area for replacement.

In this case, if data recorded on the sector of the different area isnot simultaneously reproduced when one ECC block is reproduced,reproduction of the whole ECC block cannot be effected. That is,originally, the sectors of one ECC block can be successively reproduced,but in this case, it becomes necessary to reproduce the sector forreplacement in the course of reproduction of the ECC block and thensuccessively reproduce the sectors of the original ECC block. Therefore,the reproduction speed is lowered.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of this invention is to provide an optical disk device capableof recording data so as to permit data to be continuously reproducedwhen successive data items such as speeches or moving pictures arereproduced even if a defect replacing process is effected at themanufacturing time or at the initial time, such as the applicationstarting time.

Another object of this invention is to provide an optical disk devicecapable of continuously reproducing data when successive data items,such as speeches or moving pictures, are reproduced even if a defectreplacing process is effected at the recording time after the initialtime.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an optical diskdevice capable of continuously reproducing data when successive dataitems, such as speeches or moving pictures, are reproduced even if adefect replacing process is effected at the manufacturing time, or atthe initial time such as the application starting time.

Further, another object of this invention is to provide an optical diskdevice capable of minimizing reduction in the reproduction speed even ifa defect replacing process is effected at the recording time after theinitial time.

According to one aspect of this invention, there is provided areplacement processing method for an optical disk which has tracksarranged in a concentric or spiral form for data recording and in whicha format having a plurality of successive sector areas, each having apreset track length and including an address field for recording addressdata indicating the position on the track and a recording field forrecording a recording data, is defined, the recording data recording iseffected in units of one block area, each block area containing a groupof a preset number of sector areas among the plurality of sector areasand including an error correction data recording area in which errorcorrection data items used for reproducing data recorded in the presetnumber of sector areas are collectively recorded for the group of thepreset number of sector areas, and each of the sector areas has aplural-byte configuration, the method comprising the steps of:

recording the recording data and error correction data into therecording field of each of the sector areas over the entire surface ofthe optical disk at the manufacturing time or at the initial time, suchas the application starting time;

reproducing the recording data and error correction data and the addressdata in units of one sector area;

determining an occurrence of a sector area having a defect in a casewhere address data in the address field cannot be reproduced at the timeof reproduction or the number of error bytes exceeds a specified value;

recording address data of the sector area which is determined to bedefective;

successively recording the recording data and error correction data intoa plurality of successive block areas on the optical disk; and

skipping over a sector area having a defect in units of one sector areabased on the recorded address data and recording the recording data anderror correction data into a next sector area when the recording dataand error correction data is sequentially recorded into the plurality ofsector areas in each of the block areas.

According to another aspect of this invention, there is provided anoptical disk device for recording data on an optical disk which hastracks arranged in a concentric or spiral form for data recording and inwhich a format having a plurality of successive sector areas, eachhaving a preset track length and including an address field forrecording address data indicating the position on the track and arecording field for recording a recording data, is defined, therecording data recording is effected in units of one block area, eachblock area containing a group of a preset number of sector areas amongthe plurality of sector areas and including an error correction datarecording area in which error correction data items used for reproducingdata recorded in the preset number of sector areas are collectivelyrecorded for the group of the preset number of sector areas, and each ofthe sector areas has a plural-byte configuration, the recording devicecomprising:

first recording means for recording the recording data and errorcorrection data into the recording field of each of the sector areas onthe entire surface of the optical disk at the manufacturing time or atthe initial time, such as the application starting time;

reproducing means for reproducing the address data in the address fieldand the recording data and error correction data recorded from the firstrecording means in units of one sector area;

determining means for determining the occurrence of a defective sectorarea when address data in the address field cannot be reproduced at thetime of reproduction by the reproducing means or when the number oferror bytes exceeds a specified value;

second recording means for recording address data of the sector areawhich is determined to be defective by the determining means; and

third recording means for successively recording the recording data anderror correction data into a plurality of successive block areas on theoptical disk, and in a case where the recording data and errorcorrection data is sequentially recorded into the plurality of sectorareas in each of the block areas, skipping over the sector area with thedefect in units of one sector area based on address data recorded by thesecond recording means and then recording the recording data and errorcorrection data into a next sector area.

According to still another aspect of this invention, there is provided areplacement processing method for an optical disk which has tracksarranged in a concentric or spiral form for data recording and in whicha format having a plurality of successive sector areas, each having apreset track length and including an address field for recording addressdata indicating the position on the track and a recording field forrecording a recording data is defined, the recording data recording iseffected in units of one block area, each block area containing a groupof a preset number of sector areas among the plurality of sector areasand including an error correction data recording area in which errorcorrection data items used for reproducing data recorded in the presetnumber of sector areas are collectively recorded for the group of thepreset number of sector areas, and each of the sector areas has aplural-byte configuration, the method comprising the steps of:

successively recording the recording data and error correction data intoa plurality of successive block areas on the optical disk andsequentially recording the recording data and error correction data intothe plurality of sector areas in each of the block areas at the timeother than the manufacturing time or the initial time, such as theapplication starting time;

reproducing the recording data and error correction data and the addressdata recorded in the sector areas for each of the block areas;

determining an occurrence of a block area having a defective sector areain a case where address data in the address field cannot be reproducedat the time of reproduction, where the number of error bytes exceeds afirst specified value, where the number of error bytes is not largerthan the first specified value and exceeds a second specified value andthe number of error bytes in one block area exceeds a third specifiedvalue, or in a case where the number of sector areas in which the numberof error bytes is not larger than the first specified value and exceedsthe second specified value exceeds a fourth specified value in one blockarea; and

recording the recording data and error correction data in a differentblock area which is different from the block area containing thedefective sector area.

According to another aspect of this invention, there is provided anoptical disk device for recording data on an optical disk which hastracks arranged in a concentric or spiral form for data recording and inwhich a format having a plurality of successive sector areas, eachhaving a preset track length and including an address field forrecording address data indicating the position on the track and arecording field for recording a recording data, is defined, therecording data recording is effected in units of one block area, eachblock area containing a group of a preset number of sector areas amongthe plurality of sector areas and including an error correction datarecording area in which error correction data items used for reproducingdata recorded in the preset number of sector areas are collectivelyrecorded for the group of the preset number of sector areas, and each ofthe sector areas has a plural-byte configuration, the device comprising:

first recording means for successively recording the recording data anderror correction data into a plurality of successive block areas on theoptical disk and sequentially recording the recording data and errorcorrection data into the plurality of sector areas in each of the blockareas at the time other than the manufacturing time or the initial timesuch as the application starting time;

reproducing means for reproducing the recording data and errorcorrection data and the address data recorded in the sector areas foreach of the block areas by the first recording means;

determining means for determining an occurrence of a block area having asector area with a defect in a case where address data in the addressfield cannot be reproduced at the time of reproduction, where the numberof error bytes exceeds a first specified value, where the number oferror bytes is not larger than the first specified value and exceeds asecond specified value and the number of error bytes in one block areaexceeds a third specified value, or where the number of sector areas inwhich the number of error bytes is not larger than the first specifiedvalue and exceeds the second specified value exceeds a fourth specifiedvalue in one block area; and

second recording means for recording the recording data and errorcorrection data in a different block area which is different form theblock area containing the defective sector area.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth inthe description which follows, and in part will be obvious from thedescription, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectsand advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means ofthe instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in theappended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of the specification, illustrate presently preferred embodiments ofthe invention, and together with the general description given above andthe detailed description of the preferred embodiments given below, serveto explain the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the schematic construction of anoptical disk device for explaining one embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the schematic structure of an optical diskshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the schematic construction of the opticaldisk shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the rotation speed of the opticaldisk shown in FIG. 1 for each zone and the number of sectors in onetrack;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are diagrams each showing the construction of an ECC blockof the optical disk shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the construction of each sector of the ECCblock of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a view for illustrating preformat data in a header portion ofthe optical disk of FIG. 2;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the sector format of the ECC block of FIG.6;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a recording example in a defect managementarea recorded in the rewritable zone of the optical disk of FIG. 2;

FIG. 11 is a view for illustrating detectors for detecting the presenceor absence of the optical disk of FIG. 1 and the open or closed state ofa cartridge;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart for illustrating an initial defect list formingprocess;

FIGS. 13 and 14 are diagrams showing the relation between physicalsector numbers and logical sector numbers, for illustrating the slipreplacement process in units of one sector;

FIG. 15 is a diagram for illustrating the slip replacement processeffected in units of one sector when successive data items such asmoving pictures are recorded on a plurality of ECC blocks;

FIG. 16 is a diagram for illustrating the linear replacement process inunits of one ECC block;

FIG. 17 is a diagram for illustrating the reproducing order of the ECCblocks in the linear replacement process in units of one ECC block;

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing the relation between physical sectornumbers and logical sector numbers in an ECC block for replacement whenthe linear replacement process in units of one ECC block is effected;and

FIGS. 19 and 20 are flowcharts for illustrating the process effectedwhen data is recorded in a preset ECC block.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

There will now be described an embodiment of this invention withreference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an optical disk device used as an information recordingdevice. The optical disk device is used to record data (information) orreproduce recorded data by applying converged light to an optical disk(DVD-RAM) 1 used as a recording medium.

For example, the disk 1 is a phase changing type rewritable disk, whichis constructed by forming a metal coating layer of tellurium or bismuthin a doughnut form on the surface of a base plate which is formed ofglass or plastics in a circular form, in which data is recorded orrecorded data is reproduced by using concentric or spiral grooves andlands and on which address data items are recorded at preset intervalsby use of recording marks in the mastering step.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the optical disk 1 has a lead-in area 2, dataarea 3 and lead-out area 4.

The lead-in area 2 has an embossed data zone 5 constructed by aplurality of tracks and a rewritable data zone 6 constructed by aplurality of tracks. In the embossed data zone 5, a reference signal andcontrol data are recorded at the manufacturing time. The rewritable datazone 6 is constructed by a guard track zone, disk test zone, drive testzone, disk identification data zone, and a replacement management zone6a used as a replacement management area.

The data area 3 is constructed by a plurality of zones, for example, 24zones numbered 3a, . . . , 3x which are formed of a plurality of tracksarranged in a radial direction.

The lead-out area 4 is a rewritable data zone which is constructed by aplurality of tracks like the rewritable data zone 6 and in which thesame data as the recorded content of the data zone 6 can be recorded.

As shown in FIG. 3, the optical disk 1 has the embossed data zone 5 andrewritable data zone 6 of the lead-in area 2, the zones 3a, . . . , 3xof the data area 3 and the data zone of the lead-out area 4 sequentiallyarranged in this order from the innermost portion, the same clock signalis used for the above zones, and the rotation speed of the optical disk1 and the number of sectors of one track are different in the respectivezones.

In the zones 3a, . . . , 3x of the data area 3, the rotation speedbecomes lower and the number of sectors of one track becomes larger asthe zone lies at a farther distance from the innermost portion of theoptical disk 1.

The relation between speed data (the rotation speed) and the number ofsectors for the above zones 3a, . . . , 3x, 4, 5, 6 is recorded on atable 10a of a memory 10 as shown in FIG. 4.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in the tracks of the zones 3a, . . . , 3x ofthe data area 3, data items are previously recorded in the ECC (errorcorrection code) block data unit (for example, in the unit of 38688bytes) which is treated as the data recording unit.

The ECC block is constructed by 16 sectors in which 2k-byte data isrecorded, and as shown in FIG. 5, each of sector ID (identificationdata) 1 to ID 16 of 4-byte (32-bit) configuration used as address datais attached to main data (sector data) together with an error detectioncode (IED: ID error detection code) of 2-byte configuration in eachsector, and lateral ECCs (error correction codes) 1 and longitudinalECCs 2 used as error correction codes for reproducing data recorded inthe ECC blocks are recorded. The ECCs 1 and 2 are error correction codesattached to data as redundant words for preventing data from being madeun-reproducible due to a defect in the optical disk 1.

A preset number of ECC blocks among a plurality of ECC blocks of thezones 3a, . . . , 3x of the data area 3 are used for replacement.

Each of the sectors is constructed by data of 172 bytes×12 rows, alateral ECC 1 of 10-byte configuration is attached for each row and alongitudinal ECC 2 of 182-byte configuration of one row is attached toeach sector.

When the ECC block is recorded on the optical disk 1, synchronizationcodes (2 bytes: 32 channel bits) for attaining the byte synchronizationwhen data is reproduced are attached for every preset amount of data (atpreset data length intervals, for example, for every 91 bytes: for every1456 channel bits) of each sector as shown in FIG. 6.

As shown in FIG. 7, each sector is constructed by 26 frames ranging froma zero frame to 25th frame, and a sync. code (frame synchronizationcode) attached to each frame is constructed by a specified code (onebyte: 16 channel bits) and a common code (one byte: 16 channel bits)which is common for each frame.

That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the zero frame is represented by SY0, thesecond, tenth and eighteenth frames are represented by SY1, the fourth,twelfth and twentieth frames are represented by SY2, the sixth,fourteenth and twenty-second frames are represented by SY3, the eighth,sixteenth and twenty-fourth frames are represented by SY4, the first,third, fifth, seventh and ninth frames are represented by SY5, theeleventh, thirteenth, fifteenth and seventeenth frames are representedby SY6, and the nineteenth, twenty-first, twenty-third and twenty-fifthframes are represented by SY7.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the tracks of the zones 3a, . . . , 3x of thedata area 3, header portions (address field) 11, . . . in whichaddresses and the like are recorded are previously preformatted forrespective sectors.

The header portion 11 is formed at the time of formation of the grooves.As shown in FIG. 8, the header portion 11 is formed of a plurality ofpits 12 and pre-formatted for the grooves 13, and the center of the pit12 lies on the same line as the boundary line between the groove 13 andthe land 14.

As shown in FIG. 8, a pit train ID1 constructs the header portion of agroove 1, a pit train ID2 constructs the header portion of a land 1, apit train ID3 constructs the header portion of a groove 2, a pit trainID4 constructs the header portion of a land 2, a pit train ID5constructs the header portion of a groove 3, and a pit train ID6constructs the header portion of a land 3.

Thus, the header portions for grooves and the header portions for landsare alternately (in a staggered form) arranged.

The format for each sector is shown in FIG. 9.

In FIG. 9, one sector is constructed by 2697 bytes and is constructed bya header field of 128 bytes (corresponding to the header portion 11), amirror field 17 of 2 bytes and a recording field 18 of 2567 bytes.

Channel bits recorded in the above sector are formed in a formatobtained by converting 8-bit data into 16-bit channel bits by subjectingthe same to the 8-16 code modulation.

The header field 11 is an area in which preset data is recorded at themanufacturing time of the optical disk 1. The header field 11 isconstructed by a header 1 field, header 2 field, header 3 field, andheader 4 field.

Each of the header 1 field to header 4 field is constructed from 46bytes or 18 bytes and includes a 36-byte or 8-byte sync. code portionVFO (Variable Frequency Oscillator), 3-byte address mark AM (AddressMark), 4-byte address portion PID (Position Identifier), 2-byte errordetection code IED (ID Error Detection Code), and 1-byte postamble PA(Postambles).

The header 1 field and header 3 field each includes 36-byte sync. codeportion VFO1 and the header 2 field and header 4 field each includes8-byte sync. code portion VFO2.

The sync. code portions VFO1, VFO2 are areas used for the pull-inoperation of PLL, the sync. code portion VFO1 is formed by recordingsuccessive data items of "010 . . . . " in channel bits by "36" bytes(576 bits in terms of channel bits) (by recording patterns at presetintervals) and the sync. code portion VFO2 is formed by recordingsuccessive data items of "010 . . . " in channel bits by "8" bytes (128bits in terms of channel bits).

The address mark AM is a sync. code of "3" bytes indicating the positionat which the sector address starts. As the pattern of each byte of theaddress mark AM is formed, a special pattern which does not appear in adata portion of "0100100000000100" is used.

The address portions PID1 to PID4 are areas in which sector addresses(containing ID numbers) stored as 4-byte address information arerecorded. The sector address is a physical sector number stored as aphysical address indicating the physical position on the track, andsince the physical sector number is recorded in the mastering step, itis impossible to rewrite the same.

The ID number is "1" in the case of PID1, for example, and is a numberindicating the number of the time, among the four times, by which theaddress portion is overwritten in one header portion 11.

The error detection code IED is an error detection code for the sectoraddress (containing the ID number) and can be used to detect thepresence or absence of an error in the readout PID.

The postamble PA contains state information necessary for demodulationand has a role for polarity adjustment to cause the header portion 11 toterminate in a space.

The mirror field 17 is used for offset compensation for a tracking errorsignal, timing control of a land/groove switching signal and the like.

The recording field 18 is constructed by a gap field of 10 to 26 bytes,guard 1 field of 20 to 26 bytes, VFO 3 field of 35 bytes, playsynchronous code (PS) field of 3 bytes, data field of 2418 bytes,postamble 3 (PA3) field of one byte, guard 2 field of 48 to 55 bytes andbuffer field of 9 to 25 bytes.

The gap field is an area in which nothing is written.

The guard 1 field is an area provided for preventing the terminaldeterioration inherent to the phase changing type recording mediumoccurring at the time of repetitive recording from influencing the VFO 3field in any way.

The VFO 3 field is an area for PLL locking and is also used forinserting a sync. code into the same pattern and attaining thesynchronization of the byte boundary. The PS (pre-synchronous code)field is a synchronization area for connection to the data field.

The data field is an area constructed by data ID, data ID errorcorrection code IED (Data ID Error Detection Code), sync. code, ECC(Error Correction Code), EDC (Error Detection Code), user data and thelike. The data ID includes sector ID1 to sector ID16 of 4-byteconfiguration (32 channel bits) of each sector. The data ID errorcorrection code IED is an error correction code of 2-byte configuration(16 bits) for data ID.

The sector ID (1 to 16) is constructed by 1-byte (8-bit) sectorinformation and 3-byte sector number (logical sector number as a logicaladdress indicating the logical position on the track). The sectorinformation is constructed by a 1-bit sector format type field, 1-bittracking method field, 1-bit reflectance field, 1-bit reserve field,2-bit area type field, 1-bit data type field and 1-bit layer numberfield.

The logical sector number is made different from the physical sectornumber by the slip replacement process as will be described later.

When "1" is recorded in the sector format type field, it indicates azone format type. When "1" is recorded in the tracking method field, itindicates a groove tracking method. When "1" is recorded in thereflectance field, it indicates that the reflectance is more than 40%.When "00" is recorded in the area type field, it indicates a data area,when "01" is recorded, it indicates a lead-in area, when "10" isrecorded, it indicates a lead-out area, and when "11" is recorded, itindicates "reserve". When "0" is recorded in the data type field, itindicates recording of read only data and when "1" is recorded, itindicates recording of rewritable data. When "0" is recorded in thelayer number field, it indicates "layer 0".

The PA (postamble) 3 field is an area containing state informationnecessary for demodulation and indicating the end of the final byte of apreceding data field.

The guard 2 field is an area provided for preventing the terminaldeterioration inherent to the phase changing type recording mediumoccurring at the time of repetitive recording from influencing the datafield in any way.

The buffer field is an area provided for absorbing flucuations in therotating motion of the motor which rotates the optical disk 1 so as toprevent the data field from extending to the next header portion 11.

The reason why the gap field is represented by 10 to 26 bytes is topermit the random shifting operation to be effected. The random shiftingoperation shifts the starting position of data to be written so as toreduce a deterioration in the phase changing type recording medium dueto repeated recording operations. The length of the random shifting isadjusted according to the length of the buffer field arranged in thelast portion of the data field, and the whole length of one sector is2697 bytes and is constant.

In the respective zones 3a, . . . , 3x of the data area 3, spare sectorsare prepared and each of them is used as a final spare when the slipreplacement process (slipping replacement algorithm) in units of onesector is effected in the same zone.

As shown in FIG. 10, in the replacement management area 6a of therewritable data zone 6, a primary defect list (PDL) 15 and secondarydefect list (SDL) 16 are to be recorded.

The primary defect list (PDL) 15 is a list of physical sector numbers(physical addresses) of sectors which are determined as defective at themanufacturing time or at the initial time, such as the applicationstarting time. The sector numbers indicate sectors to be subjected tothe replacement process (slipping replacement algorithm) by the slippingprocess in units of one sector.

In the primary defect list 15, primary defect list identification data,the number of addresses as the number of defects, and physical sectornumbers indicating defective sectors are described.

The secondary defect list (SDL) 16 is a list for ECC blocks (defectiveblocks) having sectors which are determined as defective at therecording time other than the above initial time. That is, it is a listof the physical sector numbers (physical addresses) of the first or headsectors of ECC blocks (defective blocks) having sectors which aredetermined as defective when data is recorded for preset ECC blocks andthe physical sector numbers (physical addresses) of the first sectors ofECC blocks (replacement blocks: spare blocks) which are used forreplacement for the defective blocks.

In the secondary defect list, secondary defect list identification data,the number of entries as the number of defects, physical sector numbersindicating first sectors as the addresses of defective blocks andphysical sector numbers indicating the first sectors as the addresses ofreplacement blocks for the defective blocks are described. The addressesof the defective blocks and the addresses of the replacement blocks forthe defective blocks are described in one-to-one correspondence.

In the optical disk device of FIG. 1, the optical disk 1 is rotated atdifferent rotation speeds in the respective zones, for example, by amotor 23. The motor 23 is controlled by a motor control circuit 24.

Recording of data on the optical disk 1 or reproduction of data recordedon the optical disk 1 are effected by an optical head 25. The opticalhead 25 is fixed on a driving coil 27, forming a movable portion of alinear motor 26, and the driving coil 27 is connected to a linear motorcontrol circuit 28.

A speed detector 29 is connected to the linear motor control circuit 28and a speed signal of the optical head 25 is supplied to the linearmotor control circuit 28.

A permanent magnet (not shown) is disposed on the fixed portion of thelinear motor 26 and when the driving coil 27 is excited by the linearmotor control circuit 28, the optical head 25 is moved in the radialdirection of the optical disk 1.

In the optical head 25, an objective lens 30 is supported by a wire orflat spring (not shown), and the objective lens 30 can be moved in afocusing direction (in the optical axis direction of the lens) by adriving coil 32 and moved in a tracking direction (in a directionperpendicular to the optical axis of the lens) by a driving coil 31.

A semiconductor laser oscillator 39 is driven by a laser control circuit33 to generate laser light. The laser control circuit 33 corrects theamount of laser light from the semiconductor laser oscillator 39according to a monitoring current from a monitoring photodiode PD of thesemiconductor laser oscillator 39.

The laser control circuit 33 is operated in synchronism with a recordingclock signal from a PLL circuit (not shown). The PLL circuit divides thefrequency of a basic clock signal from an oscillator (not shown) togenerate a recording clock signal.

The laser light generated from the semiconductor laser oscillator 39driven by the laser control circuit 33 is applied to the optical disk 1via a collimator lens 40, half-prism 41, and objective lens 30 and thereflected light from the optical disk 1 is directed to a photodetector44 via the objective lens 30, half-prism 41, condenser lens 42 andcylindrical lens 43.

The photodetector 44 is constructed from four-divided photodetectorcells 44a, 44b, 44c, 44d.

An output signal of the photodetector cell 44a of the photodetector 44is supplied to one input terminal of an adder 46a via an amplifier 45a,an output signal of the photodetector cell 44b is supplied to one inputterminal of an adder 46b via an amplifier 45b, an output signal of thephotodetector cell 44c is supplied to the other input terminal of theadder 46a via an amplifier 45c, and an output signal of thephotodetector cell 44d is supplied to the other input terminal of theadder 46b via an amplifier 45d.

Further, the output signal of the photodetector cell 44a of thephotodetector 44 is supplied to the one input terminal of the adder 46cvia the amplifier 45a, the output signal of the photodetector cell 44bis supplied to the one input terminal of the adder 46d via the amplifier45b, the output signal of the photodetector cell 44c is supplied to theother input terminal of the adder 46c via the amplifier 45c, and theoutput signal of the photodetector cell 44d is supplied to the otherinput terminal of the adder 46c via the amplifier 45d.

An output signal of the adder 46a is supplied to an inverting inputterminal of a differential amplifier OP2 and an output signal of theadder 46b is supplied to a non-inverting input terminal of thedifferential amplifier OP2. Therefore, the differential amplifier OP2supplies a signal (focusing error signal) relating to the focus point toa focusing control circuit 47 according to a difference between theoutput signals of the adders 46a and 46b. An output signal of thefocusing control circuit 47 is supplied to the focusing driving coil 32and controlled to cause the laser light to be always exactly focused onthe optical disk 1.

An output signal of the adder 46c is supplied to a non-inverting inputterminal of a differential amplifier OP1 and an output signal of theadder 46d is supplied to an inverting input terminal of the differentialamplifier OP1. Therefore, the differential amplifier OP1 supplies atracking error signal to a tracking control circuit 48 according to adifference between the output signals of the adders 46c and 46d. Thetracking control circuit 48 creates a track driving signal according toa tracking error signal supplied from the differential amplifier OP1.

The track driving signal output from the tracking control circuit 48 issupplied to the driving coil 31 for driving the objective lens 30 in thetracking direction. Further, the tracking error signal used in thetracking control circuit 48 is supplied to the linear motor controlcircuit 28.

A total sum signal of the output signals of the photodetector cells 44ato 44d of the photodetector 44 obtained after the focusing and trackingoperations are effected, that is, a signal obtained by adding togetherthe output signals of the adders 46c and 46d in an adder 46e reflects avariation in the reflectance of a pit (recorded data) formed on thetrack. The signal is supplied to a data reproducing circuit 38 andrecorded data is reproduced in the data reproducing circuit 38.

Reproduced data reproduced in the data reproducing circuit 38 issubjected to the error correction process in an error correction circuit52 by use of an attached error correction code ECC, and the reproduceddata is output to an optical disk control circuit 56 used as an externaldevice via an interface circuit 55.

Further, while the objective lens 30 is being moved by the trackingcontrol circuit 48, the linear motor control circuit 28 drives thelinear motor 26 or the optical head 25 to set the objective 30 in ornear the central position in the optical head 25.

In the preceding stage of the laser control circuit 33, a data creationcircuit 34 is provided. The data creation circuit 34 includes an ECCblock data creation circuit (not shown) for converting ECC block formatdata used as recording data as shown in FIG. 5 and supplied from theerror correction circuit 52 into recording ECC block format data havingECC block sync. codes attached thereto as shown in FIG. 6 and amodulation circuit (not shown) for modulating recording data from theECC block data creation circuit 34a according to the 8-16 codeconversion system.

The data creation circuit 34 is supplied with recording data having anerror correction code attached thereto by the error correction circuit52 and dummy data for error checking read out from the memory 10. Theerror correction circuit 52 is supplied with recording data from theoptical disk control device 56 used as an external device via theinterface circuits 55 and a bus 49.

The error correction circuit 52 creates ECC block format data as shownin FIG. 5 by attaching error correction codes (ECC, ECC) for the lateraland longitudinal directions of recording data items, which are set inunits of one sector of 2k bytes and included in the 32k-byte recordingdata supplied from the optical disk control device 56 and attachingsector IDs (logical address numbers), to the respective recording dataitems.

Further, in the optical disk device, a D/A converter 51 used fortransferring information between a CPU 50 for controlling the wholeportion of the optical disk device and the focusing control circuit 47,tracking control circuit 48 and linear motor control circuit 28 isprovided.

The motor control circuit 24, linear motor control circuit 28, lasercontrol circuit 33, data reproducing circuit 38, focusing controlcircuit 47, tracking control circuit 48, and error correction circuit 53are controlled by the CPU 50 via the bus 49, and the CPU 50 performspreset operations according to control programs stored in the memory 10.

The memory 10 is used for storing the control programs and data. Thememory 10 includes a table 10a containing speed data items, such asrotation speeds for the zones 3a , . . . , 3x and the number of sectorsfor each track, are recorded and a table 10b containing the primarydefect list (PDL) 15 and secondary defect list (SDL) 16 read out fromthe replacement management area 6a of the optical disk 1.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 11, a detector 21 for detecting the presence orabsence of a cartridge 20 into which the optical disk 1 is received anda detector 22 for detecting the presence or absence of a through hole20a of the cartridge 20 are disposed below the optical disk 1. Thedetectors 21, 22 are each constructed by a microswitch, for example.

The cartridge 20 is formed to receive the optical disk 1, and if thecartridge 20 is opened at least once (if the optical disk 1 is takenout), the through hole 20a is formed in the cartridge. Detection signalsfrom the detectors 21, 22 are supplied to the CPU 50 via the bus 49.

The CPU 50 detects whether the cartridge 20 is present or not accordingto the detection signal from the detector 21. Further, when it isdetermined that the cartridge 20 is present, the CPU 50 determineswhether the cartridge 20 has been opened at least once or not accordingto the detection signal from the detector 22.

Next, the primary defect list forming process effected at themanufacturing time or the initial time, such as the application startingtime is explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 12.

Assuming now that the optical disk 1 at the application starting time isloaded on the optical disk device, then the CPU 50 determines the slipreplacement process to read out dummy data from the memory 10 andcontrol the recording operation for each sector of the data area 3 ofthe optical disk 1 by use of the dummy data (ST1).

Therefore, while the optical disk 1 is being rotated at a rotation speeddifferent for each zone of the data area 3, the laser control circuit 33is controlled by a signal obtained by modulating the dummy data and theoutput from the data creation circuit 34 to drive the semiconductorlaser oscillator 39 so that laser light corresponding to the modulatedsignal of the dummy data will be applied to the optical disk 1. As aresult, data corresponding to the modulated signal of the dummy data isrecorded in the data field of each sector of the data area 3 of theoptical disk 1.

After this, when the recording operation for each sector of the dataarea 3 of the optical disk 1 is terminated, the CPU 50 controls thereadout of dummy data for each sector (ST2).

Therefore, while the optical disk 1 is being rotated at a rotation speeddifferent for each zone of the data area 3, reflection light based onthe reproducing laser light from the semiconductor laser oscillator 39is directed to the photodetector 44 so that the physical sector numberrecorded in the header portion 11 of each sector can be reproduced bythe data reproducing circuit 38 and data recorded in the data field ofthe sector can be demodulated and reproduced.

Based on the above reproduction, the CPU 50 determines that data iscorrectly recorded when the physical sector number of the header portion11 of each sector can be correctly reproduced. Correctly recorded datais determined by the CPU 50 also when the recorded dummy data iscompared with the reproduced data and the number of errors in the sectordoes not exceed a first specified value. The CPU 50 further determinesan occurrence of a primary defect (initial defect) caused by incorrectlyrecorded data, thereby making it an object of the slip replacementprocess in a case where the physical sector number in the header portion11 cannot be correctly reproduced or when the number of errors in thesector exceeds the first specified value (ST3).

The first specified value is determined such that the number of rowscontaining, for example, four or more error bytes in one sector having aconfiguration of 182 bytes×13 rows is set to five or more.

As a result of the above determination, if the CPU 50 determines thedefect as an object of the slip replacement process, the CPU classifiesthe sector as a defective sector and stores the physical sector numberthereof as a defective sector into the memory 10 (ST4).

Then, when the process for checking all of the sectors in the data area3 is completed (ST5), the CPU 50 controls the recording operation forthe replacement management area 6a of the optical disk 1 according todata dealt with as a primary defect list containing primary defect listidentification information and the number of physical sector numbersattached to the physical sector numbers of the defective sectors storedin the memory 10 (ST6).

Therefore, while the optical disk 1 is being rotated at a rotation speedcorresponding to the rewritable data zone 6, the laser control circuit33 is controlled by a signal obtained by modulating data supplied as theprimary defect list from the data creation circuit 34 to drive thesemiconductor laser oscillator 39 so that laser light corresponding tothe modulated signal of data as the primary defect list will be appliedto the optical disk 1. As a result, data corresponding to the modulatedsignal of data dealt with as the primary defect list is recorded in thereplacement management zone 6a of the data area 3 of the optical disk 1.

Next, the slip replacement process (slipping replacement algorithm),which is effected in units of one sector based on the primary defectlist is explained with reference to FIGS. 13, 14, 15.

That is, when data is recorded in units of one ECC block on the opticaldisk 1, the slip replacement process in units of one sector is effectedby slipping or skipping over the defective sector based on the primarydefect list.

For example, assuming now that data of one ECC block is recorded by useof 16 sectors ranging from the physical sector number (m-1) to thephysical sector number (m+14) of the optical disk 1, then the data ofone ECC block is recorded using 16 sectors ranging from the physicalsector number (m-1) to the physical sector number (m+15) excluding thesector of the physical sector number m if the sector of the physicalsector number m in the above sectors is registered in the primary defectlist.

In this case, if "m-1" is attached as the logical sector number for thephysical sector number (m-1) as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the logicalsector number m is recorded for the physical sector number (m+1), thelogical sector number (m+1) is recorded for the physical sector number(m+2), the logical sector number (m+2) is recorded for the physicalsector number (m+3), the logical sector number (m+3) is recorded for thephysical sector number (m+4), the logical sector number (m+4) isrecorded for the physical sector number (m+5), the logical sector number(m+5) is recorded for the physical sector number (m+6), the logicalsector number (m+6) is recorded for the physical sector number (m+7),the logical sector number (m+7) is recorded for the physical sectornumber (m+8), the logical sector number (m+8) is recorded for thephysical sector number (m+9), the logical sector number (m+9) isrecorded for the physical sector number (m+10), the logical sectornumber (m+10) is recorded for the physical sector number (m+11), thelogical sector number (m+11) is recorded for the physical sector number(m+12), the logical sector number (m+12) is recorded for the physicalsector number (m+13), the logical sector number (m+13) is recorded forthe physical sector number (m+14), and the logical sector number (m+14)is recorded for the physical sector number (m+15).

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 15, if the slip replacement process in unitsof one sector is effected in the ECC block n in the ECC blocks (n-1), n,(n+1), (n+2), . . . in which successive data items such as movingpictures are recorded, the recording operation only for the defectivesector contained in the ECC block n is interrupted and the relationbetween the physical sector and the ECC block (logical sector) in whichdata is recorded is shifted by one sector.

As a result, if successive data items such as moving pictures andspeeches are recorded in the above ECC block, interruption of thereproduction due to the presence of the defective sector occurs, butsince the period of interruption of the reproduction for one sector isshort, no substantial influence will be given to the reproduced picturesand speeches.

It is understood that the period of interruption of one sector isrelatively short in comparison with a case wherein the recordingoperation is interrupted for a period of one ECC block if the slipreplacement process is effected in units of one ECC block as in theprior art. Thus, successive data items can be recorded almost withoutinterruption.

Since the slip replacement process in units of one sector is effectedbased on the primary defect list, physical sectors for each ECC blockare allocated and the relation of the physical sectors with respect tothe logical sectors for each ECC block is determined and stored in thememory 10 when the optical disk 1 is loaded on the optical disk deviceand the primary defect list read out from the replacement managementarea 6a of the optical disk 1 is recorded in the table 10b of the memory10.

Next, the linear replacement process (linear replacement algorithm) inunits of one ECC block is explained with reference to FIGS. 16, 17 and18.

For example, assume now that successive data items such as movingpictures or speeches are recorded in the ECC blocks which aresuccessively placed on the optical disk 1 or in the ECC block (n-1), ECCblock (n), ECC block (n+1), ECC block (n+2), . . . as shown in FIG. 16.

If it is determined that a secondary defect occurs in one of the sectorsof the ECC block (n) at the actual data recording time, the ECC block(n) containing the secondary defective sector is replaced by areplacement ECC block (1) using the linear replacement process in unitsof one block and then corresponding data is recorded therein. At thistime, data indicating that the linear replacement process has beeneffected is recorded in the memory 10. The order of reproduction of thethus recorded data items is set such that the ECC block (n-1) is firstreproduced, then the ECC block (1) for replacement is reproduced, theECC block (n+1) is reproduced next, and the ECC block (n+2) isreproduced as shown in FIG. 17.

In this case, unlike in the conventional case, it is not necessary toeffect the replacement process in units of one sector, that is, it isnot necessary to access the ECC block for replacement in the course ofreproduction of one ECC block, then return to the original ECC block andcontinue the reproducing operation for the original ECC block. Thus, thereproduction speed can be sufficiently high so as not to cause anyharmful influence during the replacement process.

In a case where the replacement process in units of one ECC block iseffected and if the logical sector numbers m to (m+15) and the physicalsector numbers m to (m+15) of the sectors in the ECC block (n)containing the secondary defective sector are obtained before the linearreplacement process as shown in FIG. 18, then the logical sector numbersm to (m+15) are attached to the physical sector numbers y to (y+15) ofthe sectors in the replacement ECC block (1) after completion of thelinear replacement process.

In other words, the logical sector number of the recording field 18 tobe replaced is recorded as the address data of the replacing recordingfield 18, and this recording operation is performed without reference tothe address data (physical sector number) stored in the replacing headerfield 11.

Next, the process effected when data is recorded into a preset ECC blockis explained with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 19 and 20.

For example, assume now that recording data and a specification forrecording of data into the preset ECC block in the data area 3 of theoptical disk 1 are supplied from the optical disk control device 56 tothe optical disk device via the interface circuit 55. Then, thespecification for recording of data into the preset ECC block issupplied to the CPU 50, and the recording data of a sector unit obtainedby attaching an error correction code to the above recording data by theerror correction circuit 52 is supplied to the data creation circuit 34(ST10).

At the time of loading of the optical disk 1, the CPU 50 reads out theprimary defect list and secondary defect list recorded in thereplacement management area 6a of the optical disk 1, records them inthe table 10b of the memory 10, and determines and records physicalsector numbers (the primary defective sector is already slipped over) ofthe respective sectors for the ECC block based on the primary defectlist (ST11).

Further, the CPU 50 rotates the optical disk 1 at a rotation speedcorresponding to the zone in which the ECC block to be recorded iscontained (ST12).

In this state, when the physical sector number of the first sector ofthe ECC block is obtained by reproduction of the head portion 11, thedata creation circuit 34 converts ECC block format data (first onesector) used as recording data into format data of recording ECC blockto which sync. codes for the ECC block are attached, subject the same tothe 8-16 code modulation and then outputs the resultant data to thelaser control circuit 33. The semiconductor laser oscillator 39 isdriven by the laser control circuit 33 to apply laser lightcorresponding to the modulated signal of ECC block format data to theoptical disk 1. As a result, data is recorded in the first sector of thepreset ECC block of the data area 3 of the optical disk 1 (ST13).

After this, sector unit data is recorded in the same manner as describedabove (ST13) each time a physical sector number corresponding to thephysical sector number specified by the CPU 50 is reproduced.

At this time, data is recorded based on the physical sector numbers ofthe sectors for the ECC block based on the primary defect list recordedin the memory 10. That is, data is recorded while effecting theabove-described slip replacement process to slip or skip over thedefective sector.

When recording of data into the preset ECC block is completed, the CPU50 determines the presence or absence (loaded state or not) of thecartridge 20 according to a detection signal from the detector 21(ST14), and if the presence of the cartridge 20 is determined, the CPU50 determines whether the cartridge 20 has been opened at least onceaccording to a detection signal from the detector 22 (ST15).

Based on the result of the above determination, if the cartridge 20being loaded has not been opened even once, the CPU 50 determines thatit is not necessary to check the recording data and completes the datarecording process (ST16).

If the loading of the cartridge 20 is not determined in the step ST14 orif the loading of the cartridge 20 is determined and it is determinedthat the cartridge 20 is opened at least once, the CPU 50 controls thedata readout for each sector of the ECC block (ST17).

As a result, reflected light based on laser light for reproduction fromthe semiconductor laser oscillator 39 is directed to the photodetector44 and the data reproducing circuit 38 reproduces the physical sectornumbers recorded in the header portions 11 of the sectors subjected tothe above recording operation and demodulates and reproduces datarecorded in the data fields of the respective sectors (ST18).

Based on the above reproduction, the CPU 50 determines that data iscorrectly recorded when the physical sector number of the header portion11 of each sector can be correctly reproduced or when the recorded dataof each sector is compared with the reproduced data of each sector andit is determined that the number of errors in the sector does not exceeda preset specified value. The CPU 50 further determines occurrence ofthe secondary defect due to the fact that data is not correctly recordedand determines it as an object of the linear replacement process whenthe physical sector number in the header portion 11 cannot be correctlyreproduced or the number of errors in the sector exceeds the presetspecified value (ST19).

For detecting an error state in the sector, one of the following fourconditions is used.

The first condition is that the physical sector number in the headerportion 11 cannot be correctly reproduced.

The second condition is that the number of errors in at least one sectorexceeds a first specified value.

The third condition is that the number of errors in at least one sectordoes not exceed the first specified value but exceeds a second specifiedvalue and the number of errors in the whole ECC block exceeds a thirdspecified value.

The fourth condition is that the number of errors in at least one sectordoes not exceed the first specified value but exceeds the secondspecified value and the number of errors in the sectors of the whole ECCblock exceeds a fourth specified value.

The reason why the third and fourth conditions are set as an object ofthe linear replacement process is that data can be corrected in thewhole ECC block even when a large number of errors occur and if theyoccur only in one sector in the ECC block. The ECC block has 208 rows asa whole and data of up to 16 rows, each including five or more errors,can be corrected. Under this condition, the above specified values aredetermined.

That is, the first specified value is determined such that the number ofrows containing, for example, four or more error bytes in one sectorhaving a configuration of 182 bytes×13 rows is set to five or more.

The second specified value is determined such that the number of rowscontaining four or more error bytes is set to three or more.

The third specified value is determined such that the number of rowscontaining four or more error bytes is set to ten or more.

The fourth specified value is set to 2 sectors.

As the result of determination in the step ST19, an object of the linearreplacement process is determined, an ECC block determined as an objectis treated as a defective block and the above-described linearreplacement process for recording data of ECC block unit, which is to berecorded in the defective block into a replacement ECC block is effected(ST20). If an object of the linear replacement process is notdetermined, the recording process for the data is completed.

If the above linear replacement process is effected, the CPU 50 updatesand records the physical sector number (address of the defective block)of the first sector of the defective block and the physical sectornumber (address of the replacement block) of the first sector of thereplacement ECC block on the secondary defect list of the memory 10 andterminates the recording process for the data (ST21).

Further, when the optical disk 1 subjected to the linear replacementprocess is taken out from the optical disk device or when the secondarydefect list recorded on the table 10b is updated, the CPU 50 updates andrecords the recording content of the secondary defect list of the memory10 in the replacement management area 6a of the optical disk 1.

As described above, in the optical disk on which data is recorded inunits of one ECC block constructed by 16 sectors, dummy data is recordedat the manufacturing time or at the initial time, such as theapplication starting time, and the dummy data is reproduced to determinea sector with the primary defect, the address of the sector with primarydefect is recorded on the optical disk, and data of ECC block unit isrecorded at the data recording time while skipping over the sector withprimary defect.

As a result, if successive data items, such as moving pictures orspeeches, are recorded in the above ECC block, data reproduction istemporarily interrupted because of the presence of the defective sector,but since the interrupting time of the reproduction for one sector isshort, the pictures or speeches to be reproduced will not be influenced.

It is understood that the above interruption time is relatively shorterin comparison with recording interruption time of one ECC block causedwhen the slip replacement process is effected in units of one ECC blockas in the prior art. Thus, successive data items can be recorded almostwithout interruption.

Further, in the optical disk on which data is recorded in units of oneECC block, data is recorded at the data recording time other than theinitial time, the data is reproduced to determine the presence of an ECCblock having a sector with a secondary defect, and data in the ECC blockhaving the sector with the secondary defect is recorded in an ECC blockwhich is separately prepared.

Thus, even when the defect replacement process is effected at therecording time after the initial time, a lowering in the reproductionspeed can be reduced.

That is, unlike the conventional case, it is not necessary to effect thereplacement process in units of one sector; that is, it is not necessaryto access the ECC block for replacement in the course of reproduction ofone ECC block, then return to the original ECC block and continue thereproducing operation for the original ECC block, and thus thereproduction speed can be sufficiently high so as not to cause anyharmful influence from the replacement process.

Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to thoseskilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects isnot limited to the specific details, and representative embodimentsshown and described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may bemade without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventiveconcept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

I claim:
 1. A replacement processing method comprising the acts of:a)producing format data of an ECC block of an optical disk, the ECC blockcomprising 16 sectors, each of the sectors comprising 12 rows, each ofthe rows having 172 bytes, a plurality of lateral error correctioncodes, each lateral error correction codes comprising 12 rows of 10bytes each, and each of the lateral error correction codes beinglaterally attached to a respective one of the 16 sectors, and a verticalerror correction code comprising 16 rows, each of the rows of thevertical error correction code having 182 bytes and being verticallyattached to the 16 sectors, the ECC block comprising 208 ECC rows, eachof the ECC rows comprising 182 bytes, the format data being used as aunit when recording and reproducing; b) completing recording of theformat data of the ECC block by recording 16 sector data in data areasof 16 sector areas of a recording area, respectively, the 16 sector datacomprising the 16 sector areas, the lateral error correction codes, andthe rows of the vertical error correction codes, each of the verticalerror correction codes being attached to a last one of the 12 rows ofthe 16 sector areas, the optical disk comprising concentric or spiraltracks for recording data, each of the tracks comprising a plurality ofsector areas, each of the plurality of sector areas having apredetermined track length, the recording area comprising a part of theplurality of sector areas, and a replacement block area comprising thepart of the plurality of sector areas, each of the sector areascomprising one header area and one data area, the one header area ofeach of the sector areas being provided such that address data,indicating a position of each of the sector areas on the tracks, isrecorded in advance in the one header area, the one data area of each ofthe sector areas being provided such that the one data area iscontinuous with the one header area and predetermined data is recordedin the one data area; c) determining, before the act b), whether or notthe address data recorded in the least one of the header areas in theformat data of the ECC block is reproduced; d) determining, before theact b), whether or not an error occurs in units of one byte in each ofthe ECC rows in the format data of the ECC block, each of the ECC rowsincluding as associated one of the rows of the lateral error correctioncode, and determining a number of error bytes in each of the ECC rows inthe format data of the ECC block, thereby determining whether or not anumber of the ECC rows, in a least one of the sector areas, having anumber of error bytes exceeding a first predetermined number is greaterthan a second predetermined number; e) determining, before the act b),whether or not a number of the ECC rows, including the associated one ofthe rows of the lateral error correction code, of the format data,having a number of error bytes exceeding the first predetermined numberis at most the second predetermined number and greater that a thirdpredetermined number in at least one of the sector areas; f)determining, before the act b), whether or not a number of the ECC rows,of the format data of the ECC block, having a number of error bytesexceeding the first predetermined number is greater that a fourthpredetermined number; g) determining, before the act b), whether or notthe sectors of the ECC block include more than two sectors having anumber of the ECC rows having a number of error bytes exceeding thefirst predetermined number is at most the second predetermined numberand greater than the third predetermined number; and h) detecting,during the act b), the ECC block including at least one defective sectorarea, based on results of the acts c) through g), and performing linearreplacement recording for recording the 16 sector data on thereplacement block area instead of on the ECC block, thereby recordingthe format data.
 2. A replacement processing method comprising the actsof:a) producing format data of an ECC block comprising (i) 16 sectors,each of the sectors comprising 12 rows, each of the rows having 172bytes, (ii) a plurality of lateral error correction codes, each of thelateral error correction codes comprising 12 rows, each of the rows ofthe lateral error correction codes having 10 bytes, and each of thelateral error correction codes being laterally attached to one of the 16sectors, respectively, and (iii) a vertical error correction codecomprising 16 rows, each of the rows of the vertical error correctioncode having 182 bytes, the vertical error correction code beingvertically attached to the 16 sectors, the ECC block comprising 208 ECCrows, each of the ECC rows having 182 bytes, the format data being usedas a unit when recording and reproducing; b) completing recording of theformat data of the ECC block by recording 16 sector data, respectively,in data areas of 16 sector areas of a recording area of a informationrecording medium, the 16 sector data, respectively, comprising (i) the16 sectors, (ii) the lateral error correction codes laterally attachedto the sectors, and (iii) the rows of the vertical error correctioncodes, each being attached to a last one of the 12 rows of each of the16 sectors, the information recording medium comprising (i) concentricor spiral tracks for recording data, including the 16 sector areas eachhaving a predetermined track length, (ii) the recording area comprisingpart of the 16 sector areas, and (iii) a replacement block areacomprising another part of the 16 sector areas, each of the sector areascomprising one header area and one data area, the header area of each ofthe sector areas being provided such that address data indicating aposition of each of the sector areas on the tracks is recorded inadvance in the header area, the data area of each of the sector areasbeing provided such that the data area is continuous with the headerarea and predetermined data is recorded in the data area; c)determining, before the act b), whether or not the address data recordedin each of the header areas is reproduced; d) determining, before theact b), whether or not an error occurs in each of the ECC rows,including an associated one of the rows of the lateral error correctioncode, and determining a number of error bytes in each of the ECC rows,thereby determining whether or not a number of the ECC rows in at leastone of the sector areas in which a number of error bytes exceeds a firstpredetermined number is larger than a second predetermined number; e)detecting, before the act b), whether a number of the ECC rows having anumber of error bytes exceeding the first predetermined number is largerthan the second predetermined number, by checking the format data of theECC block; f) detecting, during the act b), whether at least one of thesector areas has a defect based on results of the acts c) and d), andperforming slipping replacement recording for recording an associatedsector data piece of the sector data on one of the sector areasfollowing said at least one of the sector areas, and successivelyrecording other sector data pieces of the sector data on other ones ofthe sector areas, thereby completing recording of the format data of theECC block; and g) detecting, during the act b), whether at least one ofthe sector areas has the defect based on results of the act c) throughthe act e), and performing linear replacement recording for recordingthe sector data on the replacement block area instead of on the ECCblock, the ECC block comprising the 16 sector areas including the atleast one of the sector areas, thereby completing of recording theformat data.
 3. A replacement processing method comprising the actsof:a) producing format data of an ECC block comprising (i) 16 sectors,each of the sectors comprising 12 rows, each of the rows having 172bytes, (ii) a plurality of lateral error correction codes, each of theECC comprising 12 rows, each of the rows of the lateral error correctioncodes having 10 bytes, each of the lateral error correction codes beinglaterally attached to one of the sectors, respectively, and (iii) avertical error correction code being vertically attached to the 16sectors, the vertical error correction code comprising 16 rows, each ofthe rows of the vertical error correction code having 182 bytes, the ECCblock comprising 208 ECC rows, each of the ECC rows having 182 bytes,the format data being used as a unit when recording and reproducing; b)completing recording of the format data of the ECC block by recording 16sector data, respectively, in data areas of 16 sector areas of arecording area of an information recording medium, the sector datarespectively comprising (i) the 16 sectors, (ii) the lateral errorcorrection codes laterally attached to the sectors, and (iii) the rowsof the vertical error correction code, each being attached to a last oneof the 12 rows of each of the 16 sectors, the information recordingmedium comprising (i) concentric or spiral tracks for recording data,including a plurality of sector areas, each of the sector areas having apredetermined track length, (ii) the recording area comprising part ofthe plurality of the 16 sector areas, (iii) a replacement block areacomprising another part of the 16 sector areas, and (iv) a defectmanagement data area, each of the sector areas comprising one headerarea and one data area, the header area of each of the sector areasbeing provided such that address data indicating a position of each ofthe sector areas on the tracks is recorded in advance in the headerarea, the data area of each of the sector areas being provided such thatthe data area is continuous with the header area and predetermined datais recorded in the data area; c) determining, before the act b), whetheror not the address data recorded in at least one of the header areas inthe format of the ECC block is reproduced; d) determining, before theact b), whether or not an error occurs in each of the ECC rows includingan associated one of the rows of the lateral error correction codes, anddetermining a number of errors in each of the ECC rows, therebydetermining whether or not a number of the ECC rows having a number oferror bytes exceeding a first predetermined number is larger than asecond predetermined number; e) detecting, before the act b), whether anumber of the ECC rows having a number of error bytes exceeding thefirst predetermined number is larger than a third predetermined numberin the format data of the ECC block; f) detecting, before the act b),whether at least one of the sector areas has a defect based on resultsof the acts c) and d), and recording the address data indicating aposition of the at least one of the sector areas, in the defectmanagement data area; g) performing, during the act b), slippingreplacement recording for recording an associated sector data piece ofthe sector data on one of the sector areas following the at least one ofthe sector areas, the position of the one of the sector areas beingindicated by the address data recorded in the defect management dataregion in the act f), and successively recording other sector datapieces of the sector data on other ones of the sector areas, therebycompleting recording of the format data of the ECC block; h) detecting,during the act b), at least one of the sector areas having a defect,based on results of determination of the acts c) to e) and performinglinear replacement recording for recording the sector data on thereplacement block area instead of on the ECC block comprising the 16sector areas including the at least one of the sector areas, therebycompleting recording of the format data; and i) recording dataindicating that the linear replacement recording is performed in the acth), in the defect management data area.